International Journal of Advances in Engineering Sciences Vol.
4, Issue 2, April , 2014
CONTROL FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS WITH
PROPORTIONAL INTEGRAL DERIVATIVE &
COMPUTED TORQUE CONTROL
Dr. Sheilza Jain
Assistant Professor
Department of Electronics Engineering
YMCA University of Science and Technology, Faridabad
Abstract
Inspite of long years of research, problem of
manipulator path tracking control is the thrust area for
researchers to work upon. Non-linear systems like
manipulator are multi-input-multi-output, non-linear and
time variant complex problem. A number of different
approaches presently followed for the control of
manipulator vary from classical PID (Proportional
Integral Derivative) to CTC (Computed Torque Control)
control techniques. This paper presents design and
implementation of PID and CTC controller for robotic
manipulator. Comparative study of simulated results of
conventional controllers, like PID and CTC are also
shown. Tracking performance and error comparison
graphs are presented to show the performance of the
proposed controllers.
INTRODUCTION
According to the Air Resources Board established in
1967, the emission of cars and trucks is the single most
significant factor contributing to the air quality issue
facing urban areas within the state of California.
Although the cars and trucks produced today generate
significantly less pollutants than those manufactured in
the 1970s, Californians continue to lose billions of
dollars a year due to air pollution and its related
problems. These problems are not only directly related
to human health, but also involve environmental
concerns affecting both wildlife and cultivated
resources, therefore this issue is of consequence to a
wide range of interest groups. The technology involved
in creating more fuel-efficient vehicles has come a
long way; however one of the most effective methods
of maintaining the standards of air quality is to simply
burn less fuel. In a highly motorized area such as Los
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Anika Chhabra
M.Tech Student
Electronics and Instrumentation
YMCA University of Science and Technology, Faridabad
Angeles, however, most people prefer the convenience of
providing their own transportation to and from their
places of employment.
Henceforth, Manipulators are multi-input-multi-output,
non-linear and time variant complex problem [1]. PID
controller is a conventional model free feedback control
approach and has been extensively applied in industrial
application because of its simplicity, easy to implement in
hardware or software, and does not require a precise
process model to start up and maintain [2]. The principle
objective of many of these so called “computed torque”
controllers is to linearize and decouple the dynamical
equations of motion so that each joint can be considered
independently. Computed torque control (CTC) allows the
design of considerably more precise, energy efficient,
lower feedback gains and complaint controls for robots
[3]. Design procedure for the PID Controller does not
require the knowledge of the robot dynamics whereas,
CTC allows the design more precise, energy efficient , and
lower feedback gain [4]. Comparative study between PID
and CTC results that, CTC is better as it works for non-
linear system [5]. PID controller is applied to tracking
problem of robotic manipulator, with guarantees arbitrary
disturbances attenuation [6].
DYNAMIC OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS
The equations of motion for an n- axis manipulator
are given by [7]
(1)
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering Sciences Vol.4, Issue 2, April , 2014

Torque equation for CTC is given below:-

(5)

Figure 1. Two-link robotic manipulator

where l1 and l2 are the lengths; m1 and m2 are the mass of Figure 3. Computed torque control
the links, respectively.

Torque equation for PD/PID controller is [8]

DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSED MODEL
(For PD Controller) (2)
The word robot refers to both physical robots
and virtual software agents, but the latter are usually referred to
(For PID Controller) (3) as bots. There is no one definition of robot that satisfies everyone
and many people have their own.

Where, (4)

Figure 2. PID Controller

Figure 4. General flow chart for the various controllers

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 International Journal of Advances in Engineering Sciences Vol.4, Issue 2, April , 2014

SIMULATION RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

In this Paper two controllers are proposed for robotic

manipulator. The first one is called Proportional Integral
Derivative controller. The second one is called Computed
torque controller [9,10]. To illustrate the performance of
proposed model output results have been calculated and
analyze these results with the help of graphs.

In this table comparing the mean squared normalized error for

these controllers.
Figure 7. Path tracking of Joint 2

Controllers MSE for joint 1 MSE for joint 2

PID 0.0161 3.2191e-004

CTC 0.0028 0.1199

Figure 5. Comparison of MSE for different controllers

Figure 8. Error of Joint 1

Figure 6. Path tracking of Joint 1 Figure 9. Error of Joint 2

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 International Journal of Advances in Engineering Sciences Vol.4, Issue 2, April , 2014

CONCLUSION [6] I. Cervantes and J. Alvarrez, “On the PID tracking

Various control techniques for path tracking of a
robotic manipulator for the last 20 years or so have
been reviewed. To summarize, they vary from a
classical PID [11], CTC etc. mechanism to upcoming
intelligent NN control schemes and their hybrid
[12,13]. The merits and limitations of these classical
control techniques have been discussed individually in
the paper as: due to the strong nonlinear characteristics
and parameter variations in real environments, model
based tracking control of robot manipulator is difficult.
All the intelligent control techniques are model free
control strategies, hence; perform well as compared to
classical model based controllers. Comparison of the
proposed model within themselves has been given in
the results in CTC control is better than other classical
controller.
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[3] N. T. Duy, M. Seegar and J. Peters, “Computed [13] Kuperstein and J. Wang, “Neural controller for
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[4] H. Pai-Yi and C. Yung-Yaw, "Design of PID

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[5] Jyoti Ohri Dhaval ,R. Vyas and Pretty Neelam

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